Wireless ad hoc communication systems allow a number of devices (nodes) to communicate with each other without a need to pass communications through any particular node, or infrastructure. Data communication between devices occurs by firstly discovering intervening nodes that exist between a source and a destination node, and then relaying the data from the source node, through the intervening nodes, to the destination node. As is evident, many routes may exist between the source and the destination node, and the discovery of the most optimal route may be difficult for any network to achieve.
Obviously, for any ad-hoc communication system to function properly, a method and apparatus for operating the ad-hoc communication system must exist that discovers efficient routes between source and destination nodes. Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus for operating an ad-hoc communication system that lends itself to easy route discovery, while assuring that any route discovered is an efficient route between devices.